Exhibiting a few frames of my life

Archive for March, 2009

Although our train was at 5:30 PM, we reached New Delhi Railway station (NDLS) quite early. I must thank Yasmin as she managed many things in very less time. By afternoon she completed the packing as well as some last minute shopping. Though it was last minute shopping, it was very important as she had to purchase some gifts intended for our friends. I wasn’t really able to contribute as I had to go to office at least for half a day. I reached home at around 3 O’ clock and after that we took our lunch and headed for the station. It was a normal day in NDLS, but we didn’t find the kind of rush we usually encounter. It was a bit surprising, as we were traveling a day before Holi, that too on a Friday evening and the station was not packed. First we checked the platform number for AP Express (we were traveling by Andhra Pradesh Express). It was platform no. 5 and in we rushed to the designated platform, making our way through a thin crowd.

So, by now you’ve guessed where we were heading. It’s obviously Hyderabad. But the main destination especially mine was Bangalore, where we planned to go as soon our (more precisely Yasmin’s) work in Hyderabad got over. I was hoping her work in Hyderabad University would be over in a single day, so that we could spend more time in B’lore. B’lore is special for me coz, most of my good friends are putting up there and I’ve not met most of them for near about four and half years. Yasmin is also excited about that as most of my friends are in good terms with her and also, some of her friends are working in B’lore. In a way, both of us were very excited about this trip and you will not believe if we tell you that we have been planning this trip for more than 1.5 years. But due to many reasons, it didn’t happen till that day. But finally, the day arrived and we were just waiting for the train.

In a few minutes we reached platform no. 5. An announcement informed us that the AP Express will be ready for boarding in the next 15 minutes. After sometime, the AP Express arrived in front of us. There was hardly any rush and on entering our compartment we realized that in our boogie there were at the most 30 people. More surprisingly, there was only a single person besides Yasmin and me in our compartment.

The train started sharp at 5:30 and our journey kicked off. Both of us are fond of train journeys and we were traveling by train after near about 6 months. Being a book buff, Yasmin always has books accompanying her whenever she travels. I also fall in that category, but only to a little extent as I get very less time nowadays for reading books. However, she can manage her work and reading very well. So, she picked up The Right attitude to Rain by Alexander McCall Smith and I picked the Feluda Series vol 2 by Satyajit Rai. Both of us chose the two lower berths as they were empty and stretched our legs to start our reading. Soon, I was in deep sleep with the book wide open over my head. As I opened my eyes, it was about 6 ‘O clock in the evening and the Pantry boy was there to take the order for dinner. As I’m an ardent non-veg lover (including my wife), we ordered a non-veg dinner. Also, I do believe that if I’m spending money on eating out then it should be on non-veg. You can call this my own theory, idiosyncrasy, or what you will, but I try to follow this very strongly. Spending bucks on eating vegetarian food is something against my ethics.

We then discussed our ongoing trip and our friends. We were curious if they were the same or had changed with time, as more than four years had passed since we had last met them and we were now married; how would they receive us; had we changed in their eyes? We also planned out our itinerary for our short stay in Hyderabad.

Dinner was served by 9 O’ clock and by 9:30 Yasmin was on the upper berth and I was on the lower berth ready to sleep. Both of us were immersed in our books. I’m a fan of Feluda and I was re-reading the book. After a few pages, I didn’t exactly remember when, I surrendered to sleep. So, the first day of our journey was very plain and simple, yet we were very excited and were looking forward to meeting the people with whom we’d spent a few of our beautiful years.

It’s been nearly three days since we returned from Bengalore and today for the first time I’m feeling that the B’lore hangover has lessen a bit. It’s really difficult for me to adjust myself with so much of transition in such a little time. We went to B’lore only for three days and two nights and in this little span of time we come across such a delightful experiences that I can hardly forget this trip in my lifetime. There, I met my good friends, my dear juniors, seniors after almost 4 and half years. It’s a very big thing for me as we all spent a good amount of time together during our university days. The feeling is almost like home coming. I felt very bad and sad at the time of departure as I was unable to understand how three wonderful days of my life disappeared in an instant without my knowledge. Those days are like living my nostalgia once again.